Sunday, January 11, 2009

A Christmas Addition







As some of you know our youngest Christian has been asking for a puppy for atleast three years... He is definately persistant.... This year, he even posed the question to THE BIG MAN himself. So it was time. Keith and I searched the internet for days and weeks... when we found one we liked, they were usually already gone. On the 23rd, we had decided to get one that was in Carrolton Ga only to find out she was already gone, and we had our lovely complications I talked about in the previous entry.... so as Santa said, he cant bring dogs on the sleigh....






He left a lovely note for the kids, with some dog bones, letting them know that mom and dad were on the search for the perfect dog and would bring one home as soon as they found it..Christmas eve, I had to work all day and Keith got the lovely job of finishing the last minute shopping with everyone else in GA. I absolutely love Christmas DAY... Our kids are the best... the promptly come into our room at 730 and jump on the bed... we read the Christmas story from Luke. Keith and I go first and get ready with the camera and then they come down the stairs...(one at a time, so we can get their individual pictures) Our day can be a rather long process... we take our time opening the gifts and love seeing each others expression at what we had gotten them... We made some great mini egg quiches with tiny suasages for breakfast then did crackers, suasage and cheeses for lunch. The grand finale was a luschious ham, green beans and some killer sweetpotatoe pie ( if I do say so myself). The kids had a fabulous day got almost everything on all of their lists and then some!!! Yes, the Wii probably trumped all of their other gifts by far. It has been lots of fun having tournaments in all of the sports as we learn the games. I do love the excitment children bring to the whole day... Mimi and Papa were totally exhausted by 5...


Then it was all over. A big mess and the next day I had to work for 11 hours!! Yea me... Luckily, it was extraordinarily busy. I had to work alot over the next few days and then it was a New Year... The center I teach classes at held a class on New Years day and all of the instructors participated... It was a blast.. I was very sore the next day. On Sat. Keith, Jessica, Christian and I drove to Wedowee Al. (just south of Anniston to pick up our new addition) She was so scared, she had no idea what was happening. For the next 2 days, her favorite place was underneath our bar stools.. Since then she has begun to let loose, loves to play (and bite), sleep, and bite, eat, and bite. We are working on the potty training thing and I have to say she is getting better... She has her moments though.





The first two nights, I got to sleep on the couch by her crate, so everyone else in the house could sleep. Keith got up early on day and took her out, too. It is truely awesome to see the kids step up to the plate and take care of her without complaining. Sometimes I do wonder if the Democratic system is not flawed. When we were trying to come up with her name, we started out with 30 names... Not one could we all agree on ( you got to vote as much as you wanted too) then we whiddled it down to 5 still no winner.. the next night we had a revote and a name that wasnt even on the first list (Kaela) won out.. go figure..she is a lot of fun to have around... I am so glad we got a new pup...till next time I have posted a slide show with more extensive pictures on my space enjoy....
















Friday, January 2, 2009

PRE-Christmas 2008 RECAP

OK I know it is now 2009 and I totally missed the walk through our Christmas events, but my Christmas was totally crazy..I started working at Macy's on the 3rd then worked once or twice a week...the weekend of our 16th wedding anniversary on the 12th Keith and I both get to go to the ER and get IVs and shots all because we couldnt stop throwing up... I have never gotten that dehydrated from vomitting before... Anna and Jon then came down with the same thing.. we think? My workout that wednsday just about killed me... Litterally..

Ok so we had put up the tree with no other decorations up yet... When Anna was home sick, she and I put the lights and trees up outside as well as in the dining room. Then Mike and Connie, my inlaws, arrived on the 18th... they spent a few days with us... while we were waiting to see if anyone else gets sick before we head to my mom and dads to celebrate Christmas... on Sunday.
We leave around noon on Sat...(oh yeah, because Keith found out on the 12th that he was taking over the Northeast region of sales form the company he works for and would be traveling back and forth from Va the next week!!!!!) So needless to say, we had not yet started packing.... We hadnt shopped hardly at all.. We were both feeling very overwhelmed and knew we would have to stop in Auburn to get some things from Academy (the sporting goods store). We were able to get all of the gifts for the men in my family, which was great... then on to moms... we arrive late Saturday and have a blast watching old movies and stuff. On Sunday we had the whole crew over to mom and dads there was 21 of us in their house... it is always a blast... Courtney and I did all of the cooking due to moms migraine that conveniently hit right before she was to start cooking..I am totally messing with her.Courtney and I had fun cooking and if I do say so myself, the food was great. I do love having all of my sibs in the house together. It is just a blessing to see them as often as we do now.

Keith had a meeting in Birmingham on Monday and wanted to get some shopping done( since we hadnt gotten it done before) so he was gone all day on Monday... The twins had to leave at about 3 to go back to their moms so Eric was very gracious and took Jon hunting that afternoon. It was a successful time... He came home with a doe... He was so Excited... Now he is ready to get a buck... So after all that excitement, we head out to Smiths Station, Al. to meet up with Keith's parents and see his side of the family for their Christmas celebration. All was right. Keith had a conference call that came in at 1:30 I walk into Goody's in Montgomery and run into one of my cousins that I had not seen for oooohhh 14 years maybe... she looks absolutely fabulous and it was great to catch up... then we are off again only to travel approximately 20 miles before we break down on I85 just shy of the Auburn exit we were heading for. As I am searching for our insurance number, Keith talks to my dad and he surprises us both as he is coming to pick us up.... I so love my parents.... they are the absolute best... We unload the suburban and send the kids with mimi and papa to go to Aunt Elaines...I would have loved to have spent more time with them... we dont see them enough...

Then papa comes back to pick us up and take us to the party for atleast 30 minutes...Then we go back to meet up with mom and dad...It was a small gesture, but I know my parents had not eaten, so we tookthem out for dinner at a great little steak place... Dad even brought us a great suburban to use till we could figure out what to do with our car(or if we get a new one) So keith and I head back to Atlanta since I had to be at work at 945 on Christmas Eve...Yeah me!! I will finish this tomorrow... Are we having FUN yet????